Quote:
Originally Posted by Elli
CNN keeps interviewing people today who say "I know we probably couldn't afford the house we bought, but we did it anyway because we thought it was a good idea." Since when is buying things you can't afford to pay for a good idea? CNN is treating it like a sob story when these people clearly overextended themselves.
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Yeah, personal responsibility and bad choices are being left out of the conversation more and more. The FED cut rates which made a housing bubble possible but not inevitable. We discussed housing on GFY in many threads back in 2002-2004. So many people said "housing prices always go up". When examples like the Tokyo real estate market were presented they said "That is japan, not the US". All the people I met who were buying and flipping condos in 2003 in Miami were making poor business decisions.
The financial institutions which made loans to people they should not have been made to are certainly taking it on the chin and deservedly so. also true that the speculators are being fairly taken down and the homeowners who purchased homes with rate resets they didn't understand. if you can't or don't understand a contract don't sign it. if you can't afford a loan don't take it.
Personal responsibility all around.